


Knights of the Round

by Aurelius_Carlan



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Despair, Gen, Post Bad ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-11-30 03:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11455149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurelius_Carlan/pseuds/Aurelius_Carlan
Summary: The battle between the Phantom Thieves and the combined forces of the Shadow Operatives and the Investigation Team has been a long game of cat and mouse over several months and continents. Today, it ends. Now with corrections, thanks to the proofreading by Musical_Life





	1. Defeat

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a fic I've been thinking about for a bit. It's a pretty gloomy one, not gonna lie. It's actually the second idea I've got based on this premise. The other one is a bit more cheerful.

As Mitsuru and he walked as calm as they could manage through the Moscow streets, Yu tried to think of something they could have done differently or better, and to his frustration, he found nothing. They'd managed to sneak into the country as soon as they heard the sudden drop in crime and unrest, the country's leader, having seen the fate of his counterparts in several other countries was desperate to have their aid. Of course, the Shadows in his Palace had resisted them, but world leaders, in his newfound experience, tended to be paranoid lots.

The simple truth was, Two of them was too few. They'd managed a few successes here and there when there'd been more of them. Back in Japan. When they found out that if they could keep the Phantom Thieves away for one day after the Calling Card, they'd give up. Back then they'd felt more hopeful than ever, even if it meant that someone wasn't going to be brought to justice, but at least would continue to fight their mutual opponents.

Crossing the red square was a dangerous proposition, but a detour would take too long. They stayed near a corner and watched. The square was empty, except for a couple of dozen protesters who looked incredulous and demotivated at the lack of people here. So many magistrates and businessmen had been confessing to their corruptions the last few weeks, and with the very public delivery of the Calling Card, the square should be full with furious protesters and police clashing. Instead, the few policemen standing there barely seemed to give them a look. It wasn't unfamiliar. Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, New Delhi, Washington, New-York, Brussels... The pattern was a recognizable one. Just people going about their every day business. 

They'd never even seen the Russian leader's treasure. When the calling card was delivered, they'd just gotten into his Palace as quickly as possible, taking heavier and heavier risks to get to and protect the representation of the man's distorted desires. They figured they were getting close, when they heard the rumbling sound of a Palace crumbling, and they'd known they failed. All they could do was make their escape. 

When they returned, the government officials had given their face one look, and pretty much scattered. The knew what was coming just as much as what remained of the Investigation Team and the Shadow Operatives did. A total collapse of the existing power structure as heart after heart would be stolen, met with nearly complete indifference and vague amusement by a large part of the population. Until someone with a relaxed smile and a voice soothing like a placid lake would take the top seat and assure people that the troubles were done and they could continue with the order of the day.

They'd lost this battle. Now they just had to get out of here and continue the war. Even if they were running out of ground to give. Or soldiers to fight. But this moment, when they lost all the support of the local powers that be, this was when they were at their most vulnerable. Yu gritted his teeth as memories came back. This was when they lost people. At least with a smaller group, they could move more quietly.

They almost made it too. Yu'd hailed a taxi, paying him with some of the little money left to them and got driven to the airport. They'd buy a ticket to... South America maybe? Regroup. See if they could find allies there. The Phantom Thieves should be busy cleaning up Russia for a bit. Then, just as they got out and paid the taxi driver, Mitsuru pointed them out. 

Two teenagers lounging near the entrance. Haru Okumura and Yusuke Kitagawa. Noir and Fox. Phantom Thieves. Just as Mitsuru pulled at his shoulder to go find another exit into the airport, Haru noticed them, and quickly raised her cellphone at them. 

A picture, she was pointing out the others. The hunter had caught their scent. (They had been the hunters once, and the Phantom Thieves the prey, it felt like a long time ago) Yu stopped, gritting his teeth. “We've got equal numbers. If we run, we'll be outnumbered soon. If we beat these, maybe we can handle the reinforcements.” 

“We're still exhausted from the palace.” She warned.

“So are they, hopefully.” It was optimistic. What he really thought was that they were also too exhausted to be able to run for very long.

Yusuke stepped forward, swallowing some of the meds they used, and his winter outfit changed into the blue and white costume of Fox, a katana appearing at his side. “Narukami Yu. Kirijo Mitsuro. It has been a long dance, over several continents. But all things must end.”

Haru too put her cellphone away, and her outfit too changed into the musketeer outfit, the black mask covering her eyes, the axe in her hand. “Please surrender. You can go home then.”

The two of them didn't have any weapons. Mitsuru stepped forward, the evoker drawn from within her clothes. “I've seen what happens with those who fall in your hands! You like messing with minds so much? Have some of it yourself! PERSONA! MARIN KARIN!” She put the barrel against her temple and pulled the trigger.

It was the first obvious sign that something was terribly wrong. When the sky rained blood and they realized they could summon their personas out in the world. No Dark Hour or TV world needed. Artemsia flashed into existence, the magic she shot slamming into Noir. Fox reached for his mask. “Very well then, a glorious last stand for you two it is.” The mask was removed, blue fire appearing. “PERSONA!” He shouted out. “CUT THEM DOWN!” His persona, Susano-o appeared, striking a harsh blow at Mitsuru, causing her to waver.

Of all the Phantom Thieves, Yu had an special dislike for the tall one since they lost Yosuke. His name and his persona, it was like some sick joke. He reached for the card as it appeared in front of him. “MADA, BURN HIM!” The Phantom Thief tried to dodge the inferno coming at him, but he was too slow, crashing to the ground.

Yu took a fraction of the second to peer around. Noir had just tossed Mitsuru some medication. Around them, there was a circle of people. Some of them running in terror or staring in shock, but too many of them simply circling around them as if this was a simple scuffle rather than a supernatural battle.

Then he prepared one more wave of fire. It would quickly go through his already pretty depleted reserves, but this was a chance. If they could defeat and capture two, or even one Phantom Thief, and take them to some of the local authorities that weren't too compromised, they might do... something. Fox was trying to get up, but it was too slow, and like this, he wouldn't be able to dodge at all. “Persona!” He repeated, and once more Mada appeared, unleashing flame.

It broke, mere centimetres from Fox' face. And a voice sounded from the heavens. “Oracle to the rescue. C'mon knights, let's put these old folks into their retirement homes already.” 

Fox finished getting up, just in time to parry an incoming axe slash from his fellow, dousing her with some medicinal spray. “Snap out of it, Noir. You're on our side.” She shook her head, focusing back on Mitsuru and Yu. 

“I'm sorry, Fox.”

Mitsuru cursed. “This makes matters more difficult. I cannot do much harm to Fox, and if Oracle is here, then...”

Yu heard the sound of running footsteps, and quickly switched persona to Futsunushi. 

“SEITEN TAISEI!” Just as he turned, Skull's Persona sent a massive fist straight at him, crashing into his form without effect. Skull himself was panting. “Damn it! Friggen' Wildcards man.” In the distance, Yu saw a silhouette in red. Panther was here too it seemed. They'd been too close. Should have run earlier.

“Mitsuru, run.” He just said, and burst into a sprint. Away from the crowds. In all the months this conflict had raged, they'd avoided any casualties among bystanders. He wasn't going to break that streak now.

He didn't know where they were running to. No time to formulate a plan. And after the desperate rushing through the palace, his mind felt tired and sluggish. He just knew that they could not win this fight, that they could not talk it out, and that left only one option. He tried to stay behind Mitsuru, keeping an eye on which of the Phantom Thieves called their Persona, shifting his persona to absorb or neuter the blow. For a while it worked, but they were tired, and the Thieves weren't. And he heard Oracle from within her globe shouting orders to coordinate.

The first time he received a blast of four elements at the same time, he stumbled, but kept running. 

The second time, he briefly fell to the ground, but scrambled up, Mitsuru taking out her Evoker, trying to heal him.

The third strike happened before she had the chance to do it. He tried to tell Mitsuru to run, but a moan of pain was all he could produce as darkness wrapped around him. From far away, as though he was underwater, he could hear Mitsuru yell. “No, Yu! Get up. You have to get up!”

And then there was darkness. He couldn't see anything, but now and then, he heard some voices.

“Oh, I've given up on the Phantom Thief case, Narukami-Kun. I have decided to take a sabbatical from investigative work. One should enjoy one's youth when it's there, should one not?”

“Hm, why do you think we should stay involved in that, Yu? We're good people, so it's not like they'll come after us or any of our friends. I really do need to help out in the inn, you know. I might be unable to cook, but there's other things I can do. You should visit us more.”

“Yu, you know I'm always glad to see you, man, but I gotta help my mom with the textile shops. And I really shouldn't get involved in fights anymore. It scares the heck out of her. You gotta settle down, man.”

“Hah, c'mon Yu. You guys are still dealing with that Phantom Thief stuff? Let it go already! My tour is starting next week. I got the lot of you a ton of backstage tiiiiickeeeeets.”

“Sheesh, look, I know I helped you out a lot, Yu, but I wanna just get through the academy and make sure Inaba is a nice, peaceful village. Who cares what the Phantom Thieves are doing, as long as our home is safe, right?”

“Hey partner. Hah, what are you looking so worried for? You know all of us ended up back home, right? C'mon man, stay here. You're gonna get yourself killed stressing out about things you can't change. Teddie? Huh, don't know what happened with him. He'll turn up sometime I'm sure. Ahw, hey, don't cry.. It's really not that bad. Come on, let's visit Nanako. Maybe seeing her face all cheered up by her big bro will make you forget about being a globe-trotting hero.”


	2. Train Ride to Japan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu and Mitsuru find themselves captured by the Phantom Thieves, taking him back to Shibuya. They have to think quickly, as they run out of time.

He woke up to the vibrating feeling of a train, and the steady, endless cadence of a vehicle moving over train tracks. His head was leaning backwards against something soft. His eyes fluttered open and focused on someone ahead of him. Mitsuru, unconscious, her arms cuffed to the armrests. He felt a pressure against his own wrists, and a quick movement confirmed that he was similarly immobilized.

“Hey, look who got up.” Came the voice, and he looked a bit to the side, where Skull was lounging in his seat. “Man, you guys must have been wiped. Was getting a bit worried really.”

Panther was laying splayed out on some other couches. “I told you. Tae-sensei makes good stuff. And we didn't hit him that hard.”

“Yeah, I remember the last time you got Marin-Karined, Panther. Not hitting that hard, my ass!”

“Ugh, let that go already! I told you, I was sorry, didn't I. Anyway, it's not like you were...”

“Would you like some water?” Noir intervened, distracting him from the burgeoning argument between the two. Yu carefully nodded. Fleeing or fighting was no longer an option. The best he could do was try to talk. And he was thirsty. Taking some sips he looked at Mitsuru. “Is Mitsuru alright?”

“Oh yes. We took care of her injuries. She should wake up soon.” 

“Actually, she has been awake for a bit, feigning unconsciousness. However, her reaction to her companion's awakening broke her ruse.” Fox said. “I have been closely watching her for some time.” As he spoke, Mitsuru opened her eyes, a brief flash of irritation, then rose her chin and changed her position as if she was at a board meeting, rather than being held captive by a group of superpowered teenagers.

Oracle looked at her, then at Fox. “Ugh, Inari. Creepy.”

“I simply wished to commit every moment of this to memory. This is a portentous day. The finale of the struggle between the Rebels and the Phantom Knights. Russia's rehabilitation is but minor compared to this. I would not have a moment be forgotten.”

“The Phantom Knights. So you style yourself nobility now. How repulsive.” Mitsuru said, her voice icy.

Skull scowled. “I told him that name would make people think we sold out.”

Fox shook his head. “It is fitting. Thieves do not take things on this magnitude. We engage not in heists, but in campaigns now. And of course, there is the matter of the Treasure of Mementos.”

“Oh yeah. I guess we're Knights of the... OW!” Skull scowled as Noir and Panther simultaneously delivered an elbow. Yu was immediately curious. “What? He's gonna find out soon, anyway.”

Noir chided him. “I think our leader should be the one to reveal that, no?”

“I guess.” Skull leaned back. “Man, I can't believe it's over. Gonna miss it a bit.”

“Could always let us go.” Yu suggested lightly, as if he didn't care much. “Make it a best two out of three?” He watched carefully for the reactions.

Skull just laughed. “Nah, we've got plenty of work to do. Besides, things were getting a bit too dangerous there with your pals.”

Panther scowled. “Yeah, those Russian KGB guys or whatever were seriously trying to kill us. Nice friends you got there.”

Mitsuru spoke up. “My idea, not his. And let me add that the only regret I have is that I did not recognize the extent of your danger sooner. If I had, I would have taken off the gloves far earlier. “

Skull flinched a bit. “Yikes. Scary. Alright, yeah, probably good thing we caught you.”

Yu sighed. He couldn't really blame Mitsuru for her anger. The chances of the Phantom Thieves, or Phantom Knights, letting them go was pretty much non-existent, and she had suffered the same losses he had. But all he felt was the need to gather as much intel as possible. Keep his eyes open for any opening, any information that might help him. He looked around. They were in what looked like a Russian subway carriage. Only their part of the carriage had room. Not too far from them the place was packed with people. Their eyes, calm and vaguely tired, as if coming back home from a long day, had the tell-tale yellow shine of Shadows.

“Where are we going?” He asked, trying to get the discussion away from how dangerous they were.

Noir answered. “Back home to Japan. Shibuya station to be exact. Our leader's will want to talk to you. It shouldn't be too long. Just a few hours. Cognitively people feel the world is a smaller place I guess.” 

That made sense. They had always wondered how the Phantom Thieves (Knights) managed to get everywhere, when airports were on the lookout for them. Mystery solved there at least. “And the other people on this train? They're the people of Moscow I suppose. Is this how they all become so indifferent? You herd their Shadows to some place?”

Fox was the one who took this one. “Not us, Grey Hound. Only those who begin to raise their palaces in rebellion are remanded to their destination by us. These folks are drawn there. We could not stop them from seeking their common desire there had we wished it so.”

“And we don't.” Oracle helpfully clarified. “Got plenty of work to do already, so I'm pretty happy these folks are just moving along and not making our jobs harder, unlike some people.”

“Not quite hard enough, considering we failed.” Yu said. There was some silence. “What's going to happen to us once we get there?” He asked, his voice steady. Eyes flinched away, lips twitched down. 

“Ugh, you'll see it when it happens, alright? No point worrying about it now.” Skull said. 

Panther leaned back way too casually. “I mean, you've seen your friends. It's not like they're suffering or unhappy, right?”

She looked in his direction, Yu caught her eyes, and she immediately looked away. “You know this is wrong. It's never too late to start doing the right thing.”

Now she did glare at him and held his eyes. “Don't you start that with me! I'm not happy with all this, but you decided you were going to fight us. Just because I feel a bit bad for you, don't think I'm some weak link. We are going to change this rotten world, and you are not going to be in our way!”

“Panther, calm down, please.” Noir said, giving a sad smile. “You should save your words for now, Narukami-san. When we arrive, you will have a chance to speak, as will Kirijo-san. You should perhaps sleep a bit until we arrive.”

Yu sighed, and nodded. The mood was definitely more grim now. He wasn't likely to learn anything, or change any minds. And he was... really tired. He leaned back, and closed his eyes, and let sleep carry him off.

...

The dream was familiar. It didn't add or change something. Simply replaying the experience again.

They should have been more careful. They'd already lost several of their friends to the Thieves. But they had been at high alert for days, and were snapping at each other's throat. So when they had arrived in Brussels without problems, there was some exhilaration. The feeling of success. Of finally being one step ahead of their opponents.

Yosuke had been pumped, and his grin was welcome enough that even Mitsuru was only half-heartedly urging him to be more serious. He was looking at the Brussels tourist map and suggesting they visit some places after they thwarted the Phantom Thieves. Yu remembered smiling at him and telling him to keep his voice down, since Japanese language might draw attention.

And then there was a burst of wind, nothing supernatural, it had simply been a windy day, and the map fluttered away out of his hands. It wasn't even like they'd needed the map that much. Yosuke reached for it, but it got out of his hands. And without thinking too much of it, like you do, he'd gone after it as the rest of them walked on and Yu stopped and turned.

He should have grabbed him, he should have shouted, he should have thought. But he'd just smiled as he watched his partner curse the wind and the map as they playfully evaded his grasp. He'd been thinking of a little joke about 'finally catching that evasive culprit' as Yosuke got near the subway entrance.

Worry had only just started to form at the increasing distance when he suddenly heard a voice in Japanese shout. “He's separated, go!”

Queen. (They'd have detected her, but Rise and Fuuka had been the first the Thieves had gone after) Worry was skipped to go straight to fear. He shouted in alarm just as the Phantom Thieves, all six remaining of them, flicked into existence. They weren't in a perfect ambush position. It had been an attack of opportunity, rather than a planned assault.

Yosuke had just grabbed the map, his victorious grin turning into a scowl. “Crap.” He'd just said, and turned. He didn't try to fight, knew that he just needed to get with the others.

There had been crackling lightning from Skull, and Yosuke had gone down. Not out, just laid out on his back for a few heartbeats.

It was too long. Yu had just settled on a spell to use, a Makajam spell in the hope to seal as many of the Thieves' personas, when his eyes caught the masked face of Joker. The eyes playful, the little smirk on his lips. In his hands he held a cellphone.

Yu crushed the card, Joker pushed the button. The magic fizzled as his targets vanished in a mess of distortion.

Everything after that went really, really fast and far too slow. Seconds later, they chased them in the metaverse. He could hear Yosuke still shout in anger as he was being taken. The subway stations in the other world were always crawling with Shadows. And they didn't seem to impede the Phantom Thieves, but attacked Yu and his companions.

They only slowed them down, but that was enough. Yu and the others could only look on in helpless frustration as the subway carriage took the Phantom Thieves, and Yosuke away.

The trains, the shadows, even phones seemed to serve the Phantom Thieves far better in the Metaverse than their enemies. It wasn't a fair fight.

By then, they knew they'd see him again. But they knew he'd be changed. And that they would need to continue with one less. Without his smile, and his angry shouts, and his hand on his shoulder saying he trusted in him and his endless getting on Mitsuru's nerves. They would need to continue without Yosuke.

…

“Yu... Yu, wake up, Yu.” Mitsuru's voice broke through the fog of sleep, and Yu woke up to the sensation of hands firmly grabbing his wrists. Adrenalin pumped and drove the clouds of sleep away, but he forced his body to remain relaxed, moving only slowly, looking through lidded eyes.

Oracle was watching him, Fox and Skull were both holding his arms, with Noir and Panther standing ready to intervene. He mumbled something that sounded like nonsense to the Thieves, but it was “Sois prête” or 'be prepared'

He didn't resist as his handed were pulled behind his back, feeling the cuffs wrap around his wrists. No chance to do anything there. But as Skull and Panther moved towards Mitsuru, they looked at her fierce glare and hesistated. “Noir, little help?”

And she moved off towards her, leaving Fox to hold his arms in a tight grip. He lowered his head, not even looking as Mitsuru cursed and fought. Instead, he just listened. One set of handcuffs opening, two sets of handcuffs opening. He slouched forward a bit, as if the fatigue was just overcoming him.

And then, he rammed his head backwards, slamming it in Fox' face just underneath the mask as hard as he could, ignoring the stinging pain.

A pained cry, and his arms were released. He stepped forward. Noir was the closest to him. He raised his foot and kicked heavily at her midsection, sending her sprawling further, though it left him off balance.

Mitsuru didn't need more though. With Noir out of the way, she could free her leg to deliver a cruel kick to Skull's leg. Right at the place where it had once been fractured. He opened his mouth in a silent cry and went down. Which left Panther, and while she was a powerful magic user, the high-school aged girl did not have the strength to stop an angry Mitsuru and was bowled over, the keys taken from her grasp.

No time to undo the cuffs. No time to take anything. Just the time to run as the Phantom Knights recovered. As they ran out of the carriage and up the stairs, they could already hear the shouts, and fire exploded right behind them as they turned a corner. They didn't have their smartphone, Mitsuru didn't have her evoker, but they could work something out. They just needed to...

He reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner and met a pair of surprised, red eyes.

He saw the punch coming, but his momentum was too great to change course, and his hands were tied behind his back. Her fist struck his plexus and all air got slammed out of his lungs, his legs instantly giving out beneath him, sending him crashing to the floor. He vaguely heard Mitsuru attack her. But in unarmed combat, only Chie, Akihiko, Aigis, Labrys and Kanji on a good day could go against Queen. And when the other Knights arrived, it was all over.

“What were you thinking? You know these two are dangerous. Transport them one at a time. This is no time to become complacent.” Queen chided her companions as she used a quick healing spell for the bruise that was forming.

This time, the grips were a lot more wary. Yu's mind was still sharp, looking for an escape attempt, but none presented themselves. When they arrived at their destination, there were two things he noticed. The smell of curry, and a female voice shouting. “Hah, so these generals think they have a chance to step into the spot that the conquered piece left? They think us blind that we do not see their pathetic little gambit? Fools, their advance shall simply make them the first to fall in my Fatal Crimson Storm assault! Mark these names and take their hearts, and the Russian steppes will fall before us!”

“Wow, Mastermind is pretty stoked.” Oracle said.

“You know how she gets when we take out a big wig. She's been plotting and planning for weeks. Now the game's on for her.” Queen said.

And then they walked into a version of the main hall of Shibuya station. In the middle, dominating it, a large, wooden, round table. Two seats next to eachother had computers placed on them. One of them had a short, black haired boy tap away on his keyboard. Yu knew him as Yuuki Mishima, admin of the Phansite. Somewhere in the corner was Sojiro Sakura, working over a large pot that seemed to be the source of the smell. And on the far side, an elegant girl was drawing on a whiteboard as she was talking excitedly to some people on some LCD screens nearby, as well as the young man on the large, wooden chair.

Akira Kurusu. Joker.


	3. The Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last of the Rebels make their case to the Round. Can words succeed where force has failed?

Joker was listening to the woman, and looking at his smartphone, tapping at it every time a Russian name was called. When they stepped further, he looked up, and raised his hand to alert the others in the room.

“Welcome back, Knights. Looks like you handled things in Russia pretty well. And more importantly. The last Rebels. Figures they'd get caught while Queen and I were in Mementos.”

“You snooze, you lose, that's what you get for not grouping us with us on a raid. No chievo for you.” Oracle said.

“Futaba, are you injured? They didn't hurt you, did they?” Sakura said, getting a grin and an ok sign from Oracle in response. 

Mishima rose from his chair. “Hah, I knew you'd win, Phantom Knights. We are making a better society, and nobody can stand in our way. You lot were doomed from the start.” He pointed with a smug grin at Yu and Mitsuru.

“Not from the start, but they ran out of ways to win some time ago.” The woman that was referred to as Mastermind spoke with a much more demure voice than her earlier exclamations. “You should have conceded with grace sooner. Your losses would be... far reduced.”

Mitsuru gave the two an imperious glare, not at all cowed by Skull and Noir holding her arms. “I have nothing to say to sycophants and minions.”

The two of them both seemed insulted and opened their mouth, but Joker raised his hand. “Dove, Mastermind. It doesn't matter what she thinks. But don't go throwing insults at a prisoner. It's not classy.”

The two seemed to be chastised a bit, and replied with a 'Yes, King.' and 'Alright, King.' 

Yu raised an eyebrow. “King? What happened to Joker. Is the megalomania getting to you?” He said lightly, seeing how he'd react.

Akira, King, chuckled. “Nah. We were talking a month or so ago, and figured that it's kind of hypocritical to pretend like we're still a bunch of plucky underdogs sneaking around, evading the law and being rebels.”

“We're still plucky as all hell though.” Skull protested.

King continued. “We're taking down nations, the law barely tries to touch us any more, and you, the guys who were once the valiant defenders of the old order, with hidden government resources and robots and limousines, are now the rebels, hiding from our eyes, operating in the shadows.”

Fox spoke. “We are not blind to the irony. It was both encouraging and yet oddly melancholic to find oneself on the profiting side of an unfair contest.”

King spread his gloves. “That is why the Phantom Thieves became the Phantom Knights. And Joker? Let's just say that matters have grown too serious for all too many jokes. And just like a shoji piece that reaches the end of the board promotes, once a rebel succeeds in his rebellion, he becomes the new king.”

He leaned in, and gave a grin to Queen, who was still holding Yu's right arm. “Then again, considering Queen had her codename first, maybe it's more of a king-consort thing, right?”

Queen blushed next to him. “It's not like we're married. Don't just... say whatever you please.” Though she didn't actually sound upset.

Behind him, Oracle started making retching sounds. It was the typical kind of banter Yu himself used to have with his friends, and having these people do it... angered him. As he was brought to the edge of the table, he spoke. “So, what happens now, King? You're going to lobotomise us too?”

“You know it's not that bad. But yeah.” The smile faded from his face. “Even just the two of you are a threat to us. We're going to take your hearts. Or at least that is my intent. As always, we make the decision unanimously. Oracle. Could you gather the Round? I'd like to get this over with.”

The red-haired girl nodded, and with a few buttons, several LCD screens burst to life, showing a variety of faces. Some of them Yu knew. He also noticed Sakura himself had left the kitchen, and took a seat at the table..

Once all of them were there, Akira spoke. “Thanks for coming, all of you. We're here to decide what to do with the two people who have been trying to stop what we are doing. Kiirijo Mitsuru and Narukami Yu. All of you are my confidants, my friends. I will not do this without all of us standing behind it. And as always, the people themselves get a chance to speak. “

'As always' Yu imagined his friends standing where he stood, having to defend themselves in this place, with those eyes on them. And knowing they'd all failed. “This is hardly a fair trial.” he said, some acid in his voice.

“Fairer than the one I got.” Akira shot back. “Or would get if you caught me. But it's not you two who are on trial here. You're good people, fighting for what you think what's right. I'll vouch for that. What we judge is whether our cause is worth taking your heart for. Now, I'll introduce you to everyone.” He motioned towards the people grabbing them and Oracle. “You are well familiar with my fellow Phantom Knights. They will of course be among those that judge. Dove and Mastermind will do so as well. Dove is responsible for communication and data analysis. Oracle can acquire a lot of info, but Dove is the one who looks for the gold nuggets in the piles. And of course, he's our media presence.”

The boy blushed a bit at the praise. “Just doing my part, King. You're the ones doing the hard work.”

“Then there's Mastermind, who's our strategic support. She is the one who advises us which hearts to steal, in which order, at what times. She even predicted that you'd try to intervene in Moscow.”

She shrugged. “It was a desperation move, but the only move to make. If they hadn't jumped on it, I would have taken it as a concession of defeat. But they seemed far too obstinate for that.”

Akira continued. “Sojiro Sakura is eh...” Akira seemed to hesitate a bit in how to phrase that.

“I'm your guardian. Supposed to keep your out of trouble. I'm obviously terrible at it. But at least I keep these kids fed and prevent them from getting completely out of hand. And make sure you do your homework.”

“Which I give them.” A dark haired woman said. “I get that they can't really go to school like normal kids, but they're still my students, and I'm not letting all this business get in the way of their education. And now and then I come there and help out Sojiro-san a bit.”

“Ah, and that is Kawakami-sensei.” Akira seemed a bit deflated there. Briefly, there was the high school kid, rather than the world-threatening menace. And despite himself, the teacher inside Yu saw him as a delinquent kid to try to set straight rather than an opponent. Perhaps that is why he'd failed. “Then there is Takemi-sensei, who's our medical support and supplier.”

The collar and labcoat wearing woman nodded and had a slightly mocking grin. “Ah, I finally meet the people who've been giving me so much business. Things can calm down a bit now, won't they?”

Akira continued. “Then some of the advisers who've helped us pick the right targets. Our legal advisor, Niijima Sae.”

The woman who'd once been in charge of the investigation against the Phantom Thieves nodded gravely. She seemed to be more serious about this than the previous ones. “Thank you, Kurusu-san.” She said. “Kirijo-san, Narukami-san, I advise you to consider your words carefully, and not to waste these chance on pointless dramatics.” She sounded like a judge.

“Our illegal advisor, Munehisa Iwai.”

The surly looking man scowled at the camera. “Tsh, what are you makin' this all sound respectful for, kid? I'm your criminal contact. Reformed of course. Anyway, let's move on with this. I've got stuff to do.”

“Political advisor, Toranosuke Yoshida.”

That one Yu recognized. He was a political rising figure, and a public supporter of the Phantom Thieves. He had a warm, but sad look in his eyes. “I'm sad that we meet in these tragic circumstance. I've heard many good things of you. Know that it is for the sake of you and your loved ones too that we act.”

“Media advisor, Ichiko Ohya”

“Hah, finally caught them eh? Guess I owe Chihaya thousand yen. I figured you'd manage to slip away a few more times before they got you.” The reporter said with good cheer.

“And last but not least, our fortune teller Chihaya Mifune.”

“To make a bet against a fortune teller is rather impudent, Ohya-san. Feel free to test me as long as you can afford it though.” She said with a beatific smile.

“All of them are my friends. Here is what is going to happen.” Yu felt the cuffs being released. “Each of you get to tell us why you think our cause is not right. I get to reply. If any one of the people here decides we shouldn't go through with this, we let you go. And we won't hunt you down until you try to interfere again. A free punch. And of course,” he looked around. “Anyone here who doesn't want to be part of this after their words gets to walk away too.”

“And our friends?” Yu asked. “The ones whose heart you stole?”

King shook his head. “Sorry, no take-backs.” And if he had smirked then Yu might have been tempted to attack him then and there. Instead he just looked at Mitsuru. “Do we have a case of ladies first? I've heard good things of the speeches of...”

“Don't make me laugh, Joker.” Mitsuru's voice was icy. “If the reality of what you do hasn't convinced your accomplices that what you do is wrong, nothing I say will change that. This little circus is simply all of you trying to help yourselves sleep at night. Here is my speech. You are a conspiracy of petty tyrants enslaving humanity. You dress it up in idealism and rebellion, but you are no different from the tyrants you claim to fight. And no matter what you do, I will find a way to come back from this, and I will see every last one of you criminals locked up in a cell for the rest of your lives. This, I believe.”

The silence following that was heavy, and Yu did notice, with a bit of satisfaction, that Akira was taken aback, his fists clenched and his lips tight, even if the mask hid much of his expression. The reaction of the others parts of the conspiracy ranged from a sad shake of Yoshida's head, to Dove obviously holding back an angry retort.

Finally, their leader spoke. “I don't feel the need for any retort to that.” he said, trying to smirk, but there was a tension in his voice. “Anyone feels like letting them go based on this?” There was silence. “Okay, we're getting things over with quickly at least. What about you, Narukami-san? Do you go with that?”

Part of him wanted to support Mitsuru, but even after everything, he had to believe he could get through to people. “I'm here now, so I might as well give this a try. Give me a moment if you would.” He said, trying to improve the mood a bit. He looked at the various people. Many of them, he didn't know as well, but he had to try to find out what arcana they held. The only ones he knew for sure were the Phantom Knights themselves, but those would of course be the hardest to convince. The politician had always seemed like an optimistic man, probably Sun. Sojiro Sakura reminded him so much of Dojima he would likely be Hierophant, the doctor's talk of money, possibly Devil, just like the journalist? 

He mentally picked a few Persona that he thought would be handy, then opened his eyes. The personas would change 'how' he said things, but the what, well, that had to come from the heart. 

He started by locking eyes with King. “I know you suffered injustice.” He said. “At the hands of Shido, the police, the courts, your parents, everyone. And I know you're not alone in that.” His eyes searched out Skull and Panther, as well as Yoshida, who he knew from reputation. “And those who did not suffer injustice personally, I imagine act for those who have suffered it. I believe that this isn't about power for you. It's a way to get justice. A way to make terrible people pay for what they've done. And there are certainly a lot of terrible people out there. And a lot of people who stand by and do nothing.”

“But what you're doing. It's not justice. It doesn't even leave room for justice. You take people's freedom. People's choice to be good or evil. You destroy the good with the bad. That is not justice. What kind of world do you create? One where doctors won't go out of their way to save patients. One where no article you write will ever be more important than an amusing little story, because nobody cares about other people. One where politics is a clean but pointless matter, since nobody really wants to change anything. One where the things you teach will never be used for anything big. Sure, there will be no crime. It will be safe world. But is that a world worth protecting? Is that a world worth striving for? I know we can reverse this. I know we can return the fate of these people to their own hands. It's not about giving me a chance. It's about humanity.”

As Yu stopped, the silence had a whole other feeling. Nobody on the screens was looking directly at the screen, fidgetting and uncertain. The Knights, Dove and Mastermind didn't look hesitant, but they seemed impressed. Akira just looked at Yu seriously, then stood, his leather outfit and mask vanishing as he did, leaving only his normal face, dressed in a shirt and jeans.

“You really are an exceptional man, Yu. And with exceptional friends. And there is the problem. They are exceptions. Without freedom, there can be no justice, you say. And that's true. But can there ever be justice? Is there a society where you would say the powerful couldn't prey on the weak without getting punished? Because we've been travelling the world, and I can't say I found it yet. People get hurt, and abused, and destroyed all the time. When someone gets punished for it, it's because he's not powerful, or because it's part of the fights between powerful people. And when you call out that injustice, when you rail against it, the people, even the people that might very well be the next victim react with annoyance that you are disturbing their peaceful lives.”

He looked from one to the other as he spoke. “You know this. Many of you felt this. Someone with power was destroying you. One way or the other. And the people? This mass of humanity Narukami-san speaks so hopefully about? They watch and sneer and are happy it's not them, they don't care about anything but themselves. For most of them, all of what we do barely changes how their lives go. The only thing that saved you, most of you, most of us, is when we went and took that precious free will and broke it over our knees.”

“Because without freedom, justice isn't possible. But let me turn the question around. Without justice, is freedom a good thing? Without justice, freedom simply means that the wicked and corrupt indulge in the abuse of the ones beneath their feet, while the other people stand by. And good people that stand up get crushed. Often enough not even by by the powerful people themselves. The vast masses will do that eagerly to anyone who challenges their peaceful life. And that is the world where we are in now. We do not have justice. That is not the fault of a few rotten individuals getting in the way. It's not the fault of any political system or religion. Humanity just... isn't good enough.”

“But I like humanity anyway. I don't want people to get hurt. So either we go with Narukami-san's idea, and we go back to the world and we try to create this 'justice' and protect the weak, knowing there is going to be so many innocents getting hurt that we will not be able to help, and when we do get our justice, all we can do is hurt the culprit and try to feel better about ourselves. Or we go on this one chance, this one opportunity humanity has to really change itself. And we'll lose something in this change. There's a hefty price, and we know that. But we'll never have girls jumping off rooftops because her teacher considered her a thing to toy with, we'll never have parents treating their children like their personal property to sell and exploit, we'll never have corrupt politicians using their power to rape women and ruin the lives of people trying to stop them and we'll never have drivers who run over a little girl's mother as she's going to pick up her daughter, driving away to leave her dying by the side of the road.”

Those last words he said with his grey eyes looking straight into Yu's, and he couldn't help but flinch. He'd noticed that as he spoke, King had briefly paused and closed his eyes as he switched addressing people. Just like he had done. Of course. He was a wildcard too. He knew the same trick. But he knew these people, and would know exactly what Persona to use. Still an unjust game. But he'd given it his best.

He kept his eyes locked. He didn't look at any of the other faces, and neither did Akira. There was a tension in the boy's face. “Knights,” He spoke. “I would take their hearts. Are you with me?”

“Skull!”

“I have your back, man.” 

“Panther!”

“We're with you all the way, Akira.”

“Fox!”

“We stand with you, always.”

“Oracle!”

“You're never getting rid of us!”

“Noir.”

“We're in this together to the end.”

“Queen.”

And finally, Queen's voice. “To heaven or hell, my trickster, long as we're together.”

“Dove.”

“I believe in you, King. I will see the Phantom Knight's dream come true!”

“Mastermind.”

“On your side.”

“Sojiro.” 

“It's a selfish thing, but these people are after Futaba. Nothing either of you said could make me change my mind. I support you, King.”

“Kawakami-sensei.”

Her voice sounded tired. “There are... so many Kamoshida's out in the world aren't there? I didn't do anything to stop him. But I'll stop all the others. No matter the cost. I'm with you, Akira.”

“Takemi-sensei.”

“When a treatment isn't working, you need to try something else, right? Do an experiment. And I suppose we can get used to the side effects. Do it.”

“Niijima-san.”

“Justice hm? I used to think it so important. Father died for it.” Her voice was sad. “But I've seen how it's made. I've lost my taste for it. Proceed, King.”

“Iwai-san.”

“Ugh, all this official stuff. I've seen what people do with freedom. Both sides of the law. Just get this damn thing over with.”

“Yoshida-san.”

The man's voice as heavy and pained. “There are some choices that will leave you with regret no matter what path you take. But I'd rather face regret of a thing I did, then a thing I did not do. I am sorry, Narukami-san. But for the sake of a better world, your heart must be taken.”

“Ohya-san.”

“You know, you're right. I'm probably gonna be going back to feel good stories when we succeed, cuz there won't be any big scandals, and nobody would care anyway.” She sighed. “But I went into this business to expose crooked assholes hurting others. Would be a selfish thing to just miss the chance to end all that, just so I'd have things to write about. Do your thing.”

“Mifune-san.”

“The cards... the cards are coming up with something different every time I draw them. You defied fate, but now, you seal that of others. Was that perhaps fate or is that you defying your fate or...... oh goshdarn it, all o' this don't make a lick o' sense anymore.” There was a sudden shift as the fortune teller fell into a more rural dialect. “These cards ain't tellin' me anything right now. So I'm just gonna put my faith in you, King. Do... do what you gotta do.”

And that was it. The two wildcards broke their gaze at the same time. For Yu, it was to lower his head in defeat. He'd really thought he might have swayed at least one. From the look on relief on Akira, it seemed he thought the same.

“Then it's decided. Kirijo Mitsuru, Narukami Yu. You're good people, but for the sake of the New World, we will take you to the depths of Mementos, where your hearts will be taken.” He said, tension fleeing his body. “Thank you for all your presence. This should be the last time for us to do this. Let's all take a break and continue Russia tomorrow.” The screens all went out, and Yu felt someone grab his arms again, pulling them against his back to cuff him again.

He'd lost.


	4. Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu and Mitsuru, condemned to have their Hearts taken are taken down into Mementos by the leading pair of the Phantom Knights. They learn the fate of their missing companions. And are faced with the monstrous revelation below.

Yu didn't find the energy to resist as Akira and Makoto led him towards one of the subway platforms. He was vaguely aware of the uncomfortable looks from the other Phantom Knights, and caught a glimpse of Mitsuru trying to catch whether he had any ideas. But while his heart was racing and pumping, his mind felt numb.

There was a train pretty much immediately of course, empty except for the four of them. Soon, the train left, getting on a track that spiralled downwards.

“You were shifting Personas too weren't you?” Akira said, leaning against a wall. “I figured you might be able to do that. You had me worried.”

Yu looked up. Akira was once more masked and dressed in the long black coat, with a confident smile on his face. Yu just shot him a hard glare and looked away.

Akira sighed. “Yeah, I guess we're not really going to bond over being Wildcards hm?” He let out a chuckle. “If things would have gone different, we could have been rivals, or even friends.”

“That’s not funny.” Makoto snapped.

“It is, slightly.” Akira said.

“Where are Aigis, Labrys and Teddie?” Mitsuru demanded, and as usual you might mistake who was the captive here. Yu was drawn out of his state, the question of their missing comrades had long since been a concern.

Makoto was the one to answer. “They're alive. We couldn't do with them what we did with your other friends, so we just contain them.”

“We don't kill.” Akira said, no humour in his voice now. “We're not murderers.”

“So... What happened to Goro Akechi?” Yu said. Partly it was curiosity. Partly, he just wanted to get in a dig at the Phantom Knights leader.

And he got his wish. The young man had a good poker face, but Yu could see his lips twitch slightly, his eyes narrowing just a bit. “He's dead, as far as we know. But we didn't do it.”

Makoto put a hand on his shoulder. “He confronted us when we were stealing Shido's heart, we defeated him. Shido's mind had defenses in place that turned on Akechi. He managed to cause a wall to drop between him and the Shadows and ourselves. Then we lost all trace.” She said firmly.

“How very convenient.” Mitsuru said.

Makoto scowled. “Believe it or not. What you think won't matter, soon enough.”

That left a silence that seemed to last, the subway car continuing its spiral down. Eventually, Akira spoke. “This wasn't the original plan, you know? We had planned to inspire people, to make them stand up to tyrants, to give them courage.” He sighed.

“What happened?” Yu asked. A light flicker of hope in his heart. “What made you... sink to this.”

“Humanity happened. It's a long story and some of the things I'll show you when we get down.” He sounded sad. “Say, with whatever went on in Inaba a few years ago. Did you get to deal with an Igor too?”

Yu remained quiet. Whatever Akira didn't know, he wasn't about to tell him.

Akira shrugged. “Doesn't matter I suppose. But apparently I was picked by him to be humanity's champion or something. That was the original idea. Me versus Akechi.” His eyes turned towards Mitsuru.

“So, I read up about that rash of Apathy Syndrome some time before that. So, who was your wildcard? It's either Shinji Aragaki or Minato Arisato. If I have to guess, I’d say the latter.”

“That is none of your business.” Mitsuru said tersely.

“I suppose it's unfair to say they were looking for a martyr. You managed to survive.” Akira looked at Yu.

Yu's mind was racing. “Wait... if you were picked by Igor. Down there, is...”

Akira gave a half hearted smirk, not nearly as smug as the usual curl in his lip. “You'll see. Last year, we did this whole route using the catbus, fighting Shadows every step of the way. Every so many floors there was a door we couldn't get through, not until we gathered more fame. Christmas eve is when we made our final run on this place. We expected it to be the final run of the Phantom Thieves. That's when we found out what is at the heart of Mementos.”

As he spoke, the subway train arrived. Throngs of people's shadows were standing in neat orderly cues, waiting to be let into the building.

“What... What is it?” Even Mitsuru was shocked by it. It was impressive in its massive ugliness.

“A prison.” Akira said. “A prison for mankind. This is where we arrived on Christmas Eve. After Shido's confession, the people's indifference surprised us. We did not cause that. We didn't expect it. So we came down here, planning to face whatever it was. We expected it to be the Phantom Thieves' last heist.”

He stepped forward and the Shadows that were the wardens quickly made sure a path was cleared, the crowds of people meekly parting like a sea, barely looking at the small group as they entered.

“We didn't enter through the front door, of course.”

Yu looked around, trying to find a sign of an escape route. He did not want to go into that building. But Makoto's eyes were on him, and his hands were still secure behind his back. He went in, walking past a nightmarish series of jail cells.

“Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, Shido. All of them are in here somewhere. Anyone whose heart we stole ended up here. But not only them. People just turned up here. Honestly, only a very small minority of the people here were put here by us. Most people's shadows just seek it out. Regular folks. Not so good that they'd stand up and do something about the wrongs that happen, but not bad enough that they'd step out of line and do anything particularly wicked. Just going about their days and avoiding trouble.”

Yu finally found his tongue. “This... This is horrible. But you didn't cause this?”

Akira shook his head. “No, we didn't. We were as horrified as you are and determined to do something about it. It was so perfect. The last act of the Phantom Thieves would be the jailbreak of humanity.” He sighed again. “Anyway, this next room is where I can tell you about what happened to your friends.”

The first thing they noticed was the massive jail door. The second, was two of their missing companions, immobile on chairs, a screen attached with wires to each of them.

“AIGIS! LABRYS!” Mitsuru cried and moved forward. Akira and Makoto jogged forward, not trying to hold her back. Neither of the two robots reacted.

This time it was Makoto who spoke. “They cannot hear you. The method we use on you cannot work on them and they don't really have a place up there. We keep them here. Futaba, with some assistance, managed to make it so things are at least pleasant. We check on their thoughts every now and then. We just found some good memories and fantasies and let them loop through it. It's the most humane solution we could find.”

Yu turned his head away. He'd had enough intrusions in someone's inner thoughts for a lifetime. There was no missing Mitsuru's rage and Makoto quickly positioned herself quickly between Akira and her, even with the redheaded woman bound. “You have no right! NO RIGHT to look at those memories.” She stepped towards the machine, ready to assault it in a fury when the younger woman tackled her to the ground.

Yu tensed, ready to try... Something, but Akira snapped his fingers and Shadows seemed to appear out of every corner. The masked leader looked confused. “I don't see what makes these memories so deeply private. She's just spending some time with that Minato on the school's rooftop. I guess it's a bit lovey dovey with his head on her lap. It's really nothing more than this.”

“It is none of your concern, if you want to continue to pretend at decency, you'll stop this... violation instantly!”

This time it was Queen who spoke up. “We will not and I will tell you why. These two have been trying to find a loophole in their program since they've been sitting here. If they break free, they're likely to come after us. So every now and then, Oracle comes down here and closes a few loopholes. If they would just sit down and enjoy their memories, we could leave them alone. Unless you'd prefer us to just disconnect them from their body and leave them a state of sensory deprivation?”

There was a hateful glare between the two that was interrupted when Yu spoke. “Where is Teddie?”

King pointed at the door. “Behind that door. We first thought we could do the same with him as to you. But that just makes people go to the place they ought to be and act like they're supposed to.”

Yu's heart chilled. “And Teddy was a shadow.”

He nodded. “It'd be as good as killing him. And that's not what we do. So, he's in there. In a prison. He won't starve or thirst or anything.”

“Let me see him.”

“Impossible.”

“Let me see him, PLEASE! Is it that hard to get one last moment to speak to him while I'm still capable to care?” He noticed the wince, even with the mask, but it didn't really give any satisfaction. There was nothing fake about the pain in his voice.

“You guys all ask that. But I don't mean that I won't, I mean that I can't. That gate is beyond my power to open. It doesn't just hold Teddie. So, at least he's not alone. Margaret is in there too. She's the one who gave you the app, isn't she? Elizabeth, who almost killed the lot of us. Lavenza, who you don't know. And of course... Igor.”

Yu felt those words as body blows. It had been in the back of his mind. That even if they failed, maybe Igor could find somebody else. But no, this was it. There was nobody else left. He grit his teeth, thinking of Teddie, stuck behind bars forever, probably telling Igor and Margaret about how Sensei was going to come and save them any minute now.

“It'll open one more time.” If King noticed that Yu was near to tears, he didn't comment. “Maybe. Depending of if we find him. If he's still alive. I hope it never has to open again.” He sighed. “Let's go. We're almost there. Then you can see the Truth.”

Yu walked those last miles, his head low, his heart aching. Now and then he looked to the side and saw the shadows of men complacently sitting in their cages, giving vaguely encouraging nods, if they acknowledged him at all. When they reached a gate, in front of a gargantuan edifice in the middle of the prison, it shook him out of his fugue.

“We're here.” King said, his voice quiet. There was nothing of the flamboyant leader of the Phantom Knights here. As Yu watched, he took off his mask, letting it vanish into smoke, with Queen following suit. “We do not wear masks here.”

The door opened. And whatever numb despair had been gripping Yu was replaced with Horror. The gigantic circular room was impossibly high, and the walls were a never ending series of jail cells, small and compact, each one filled with a human being. From several of them came tubes, filled with a red liquid and those tubes...

Led to a gigantic, brightly shining grail, and that grail's voice boomed.

“Welcome, my faithful servant, and welcome, his beloved. I congratulate you on finishing an important part of mankind's rehabilitation.”

And as Yu watched, King and Queen both knelt, hand on knee, head bowed, not even making an attempt to secure either of them. “Thank you, Lord Yaldabaoth.” King said. “If you would grant us the favour, I would have you tell the rebels the Truth of how the new world has come to be.”

Things that had been nagging at Yu's morose brain suddenly clicked together. The gate King couldn't open, this prison that preceded the Phantom Thieves' change, the way the shadows and trains in Mementos obeyed him, and even Mementos itself. “You... You aren't just forcing your own morality on the world.” He said, breathlessly, as the true terror sunk in. “You've sold out humanity.”


	5. The Trickster's Treachery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al right. The next chapter. This time with more proofreading. Thanks for the comments in the last chapter to point out my mistakes. Probably managed to miss some things anyway.

Mitsuru cried out “You scum!” as she charged forward, even though her hands were bound. A bright ray erupted from the grail and sent her crashing to the ground. Neither King nor Queen had moved.

“Mitsuru!”

“She is not harmed. As per my covenant with my Chosen, all human life is to be considered worthy of rehabilitation. You as well shall find peace and comfort in the new world, Truthseeker. And I will grant you this boon at the request of my Chosen.”

“My gratitude, Lord Yaldabaoth. With your permission I will begin preparations for their rehabilitation.” He stood and looked at Yu.

“How could you? How could you?” Yu just asked brokenly.

Akira met his gaze. “I'll tell you. But the story starts before I entered the scene. Listen to Lord Yaldabaoth, Narukami-san. I'll tell you exactly how, when my part of the story comes.” Then he walked to some machinery a bit further away. A tube came from the Grail, down into the machine. There was brown and black in several jars. It took a moment of time to recognize it, because it was just so out of place here in the deepest pits of the metaverse.

It was a large, café style, coffee machine, just like there had been at Leblanc.

Mitsuru scrambled back up to her feet.

“I am Yaldabaoth, the Holy Grail, the God of Control. When you defeated Izanami, Truthseeker, you opened humanity's eyes. They were able to look upon their true selves. To reject the lies that shield them from being disturbed. And when humanity looked on itself, it was disturbed. It found wickedness. Lust, greed, envy, wrath, sloth, pride, despair, and gluttony. Yet that wickedness itself prevented it from acting upon what it saw. They saw evil, you made sure they could not look away. But they wished, wished dearly, that someone else would take care of it. And thus, Mementos came to be, the Palace of Shibuya, and humanity. And within that Palace, their Treasure. The Holy Grail. One who takes care of all their choices and problems. Humanity's dearest wish.”

“Others have said that before! And it was untrue then, and it is untrue now!” Yu found a defiance in the memories of facing Izanami and her servant, all those years back.

From the cells all around came voices.

“Shut up! You're not speaking for us!”

“Lord Yaldabaoth is handling things just fine.”

“Who do you think you are for messing with our wish?”

The voices came in immediate rebuke, joined by a chorus of others. Yu's eyes briefly met Queen and were surprised to find sympathy, or pity there. “Discouraging, isn't it?”

“You are right that others have said that before. Yet they are defeated, while I stand victorious. Humanity has reached the limit of its potential. Of course, when I rose, Igor stood against me, challenging me. We both were to choose a champion to be given the power of the Wildcard. I chose Goro Akechi. Igor chose Akira Kurusu.”

“Even Igor makes mistakes it seems.” Mitsuru said bitterly.

“You were supposed to be our champion? Akira, say something! Look at me, damn it!” Yu yelled, even as Akira was grinding beans into powder, focused on his task.

“Focusing on the coffee, I'll be right with you.” He stated flatly.

“Igor however did not understand me. I am a God, and he, he is but a servant of one. And the servant of one who has withdrawn his hands of mankind. Igor is not my equal, cannot be my challenger. In the absence of a worthy contender, I considered myself the victor by forfeit. And so, even before the awakenings, I sealed away Igor, and turned the Velvet Room's attendant to my cause, by splitting her into two separate beings. The game was changed. My victory was not in doubt. Now, Akechi Goro was the champion for mankind's erasure, as being irredeemable and evil. Akira Kurusu was the champion for mankind's rehabilitation under my rule.”

“Fancy words for a despicable cheater.” Mitsuru shot back, but the insults seemed to affect Yaldabaoth little.

“Akechi Goro was awakened first. And quickly found himself in a position of power, bringing about the worst in himself, and in others. He made a powerful case that humanity deserved to die. Yet I was curious about Igor's chosen. And so I took the guise of Igor himself, and offered him assistance. I wanted to know which of the two would be the victor. And Igor had chosen Akira under the assumption that he'd have the support of the Velvet Room. And so, I gave it to him. After he awakened, both Akechi and Akira hunted humanity in their own way.”

Akira spoke, carefully mixing the ground beans in the coffee-maker. “I didn't know any of this of course. I was mostly fumbling around blindly. All I knew from Morgana is that we could steal treasures to steal distorted desires. I'd later learn that those people end up here.”

“Who's Morgana?” Yu asked.

There was again a flinch, and some of the coffee spilled. “Igor created him.” Akira said. “He was meant to help me, but he couldn't remember anything, about who he was, or why he was created. He thought he was a human being changed into the shape of a cat. I don't know where he is now. I hope he's just hiding and laying low. Because next time we meet, I'll have to do the opposite of when I first met him and put him in a jail cell.”

“So... Someone else is out there.” Yu felt a flash of hope fill his heart.

“Maybe. Or maybe he's dead.” Akira said sadly. “If he's alive, he certainly hates me more than Kirijo-san does... I think.” There was a bitter little chuckle at the end of that. “Anyway, after that, there was the rise of the Phantom Thieves. I think between the lot of you, you mostly figured out how that went. Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro. We saved Oracle from her own twisted desires, but I guess because she got a Persona, she didn't end up here. Then there was Okumura, but he was murdered by Akechi. Then there was Sae-san.”

“You stole the Heart of your own sister?” Mitsuru suddenly glared daggers at the young woman. Makoto who'd been silent looked away.

Akira answered. “We didn't end up doing that. Mostly because we were being pressed into it by Akechi, and we had our own plan that involved not stealing her Heart. Pretty proud of how we handled it, but this is no time for bragging. Suffice to say, we faked our death.”

“Wait... that means Sae never had her heart stolen!”

“No.”

“But you trust her enough to work with her now.”

“Yes, she became a better person without us stealing her heart. Is that what you're trying to say, Yu?” Akira filled a tank with the liquid from the Grail and began to heat it.

“If she can become better person, than anyone can! Then everyone can! Without this!”

“They coulda, they woulda, they shoulda.” Akira snapped back. “All of them could have made a change at any time. Sae happened to do so before it was too late, but humanity didn't.” He took a breath, focusing on putting the filters in as the liquid from the grail warmed up in the pressure cooker. “After faking my death, we went after Shido. Like I said, we battled Akechi, he lost, then sacrificed himself to buy us time to escape some of Shido's mental defences. We stole Shido's Heart, and figured we saved Japan. But you know how that ended. Nobody seemed to care that the most popular man in Japan just confessed a massive murderous conspiracy. That's when we first started to realize something was very wrong. And we decided to get to the heart of Mementos.”

“We suspected the very core of the Metaverse was here. That to go down here was to lose our powers. We went down anyway. The goal of the Phantom Thieves of Heart was to encourage people. To make them stand up for themselves. We couldn't let this continue.”

“I assisted them even then.” Yaldabaoth boomed. “I was satisfied with Akira's victory over Akechi. And started humanity's rehabilitation in earnest. That was your Christmas evening. I wished to show my absolute control and superiority, so I instructed the attendants to aid Akira as much as he wished. Allowed them to fight their way down to here. Where they faced me.”

“And you changed your mind when you saw him?” Mitsuru asked acidly.

“No.” King said with a scowl at Mitsuru. “We fought. We fought with everything we had. We ignored the shouts of all the people about how they didn't want us to attack him. We used every persona we had, every attack, every tactic, every weapon we fabricated and found. We didn't make a dent. He was not even in any rush. We didn't exhaust his stamina, we simply exhausted his patience. He simply dispatched us, one after another.” Akira's voice was flat, looking at the liquid as it heated up, steam rising.

Yaldabaoth spoke again. “And indeed, my patience had been exhausted. Their attacks vexed me. Their defiant insults had no place here. And so I finally smote them. And ejected them from my realm. To see their world being remade according to my design. A merging of the Metaverse, and the world of men.”

“The rain of blood on Christmas Eve, the bone constructions nobody saw.” Yu said, that little piece of the puzzle never quite fit, until now.

Yaldabaoth spoke. “A world where humanity would have its beliefs validated. What they considered truth became true, and what they considered false, became false. And humanity had no need for a belief in Phantom Thieves.”

Akira shuddered at those words and Queen suddenly took over. “I think the water is hot enough, Akira. I'll take this part.” She scowled. “We just had the time to look around and see what was happening before we felt ourselves weakening. Then... Fading out of existence. Like Shadows.” She clenched her fists. “We screamed, we cried out, while the good people of Shibuya just walked right past us.” She said bitterly.

“They were being manipulated by the one you're serving!” Mitsuru said. “And you're holding it against them.”

“The one we're serving exists because humanity ignores other people's suffering.” Queen shot back. “I... I came to in a dark cell. The next part is... Yours, Akira.”

“I woke there too.” Said King, who was carefully pouring the hot liquid. “Lord Yaldabaoth, still disguised as Igor, told me I failed and that I was to be executed.”

“I was sorely displeased by their defiance. even faced with the righteousness of my cause. And I thought there would be no better way to finalise my victory by having Igor's chosen be executed by Igor's attendants. Yet even in defeat, he surprised me.” Yaldabaoth spoke.

“I managed to remind the attendant. She refused the order to execute me and instead, allowed me to reunite her two parts. She revealed to me that the one I had thought to be Igor was lord Yaldabaoth all along. The Trickster had been tricked.”

“I should have been angry, yet I saw worth in his cleverness and quick tongue. And so, I did offer him a covenant.” Yaldabaoth said.

Akira finished pouring the water and turned his back on the coffee-maker, giving the two rebels his full attention. “The Phantom Thieves would continue their work in the service of Lord Yaldabaoth. The worlds would not be merged fully, but we would make sure that all people would obey him. He would rule humanity like a benevolent god.” There was a heartbeat of silence, the coffee-maker the only background sound. “I took the deal.”

Yu sighed. “I.... Have been there. Seeing my friends fall one by one. Nobody deserves that. Even after all you've done to my friends, you did not deserve that. But you should not have given up. You should have trusted in them. Believed in them.”

“I trust my friends plenty.” Akira said, stepping away from the brewing coffee, his face bare, looking Yu straight in the eyes. “Did you get that choice, Narukami-san? Did the Izanami you faced give you the opportunity to walk away from the fight with your friends alive?”

“No. And maybe I can never know what choice I would have made. But I do know what would have been the right choice.” He said. Despite everything, the fact that he could smell the coffee, suggested that it was close to being done, and he knew when it was, it'd be the end. He was calm now.

“We did have that choice.” Came the voice from Mitsuru, a bit pained. “It was... A long time ago now, but I can still remember the fear and the despair. We had seen Nyx' power, we didn't really think we had a chance. Ryuji offered us... a few months respite, a bit of extra time, not having to fear our coming doom. I sometimes wonder what kind of person I would have become, if I was to walk away.” She looked from Akira to Makoto. “And now I know.” Contempt rose in her voice. “In the end, you were just a coward.”

Makoto grit her teeth, but Akira just took a deep breath. “Not unfair I suppose. I promise the truth here. And the truth is that my thoughts at the time were mostly about saving my own and my friends' lives. So, cowardice in a way. Cowardice and spite.” His face tightened. “For a whole damn year, it was always the same. If you stick your neck out to do the right thing, you always get punished. Help a woman being assaulted? Get accused by the one you saved and convicted. Save people as the Phantom Thieves? Either you are a villain that must be hunted down, or you are the hero and you're supposed to be the one taking care of everything. And with every friend I made, it was the same story, again, and again, and again. Good people do their best, they get ground down and most people don't a shit. And then to see those people just walk by while my friends vanished screaming? I was done. No more. Why should we die on a suicide run for their free will when they barely use it? And if we got our victory, our reward would be to lose the very weapons that kept us from being helpless against the powerful!”

He took a deep breath and looked back. The coffee had finished dripping. “And that is how I sold out humanity.” He stepped back, gathering some saucers and cups.

Yu was quiet. What do you say there? Any accusations to make, he's already admitted. “Who knows the truth?” He said, looking from Makoto to Akira.

“The Knights do. I wouldn't hide it from them. The others do not. Though they haven't really asked what's down here. They trust me to do the right thing.” He carefully put spoons near the cup, even though there was no milk or sugar. “It was not something my fellow Thieves were eager to do. There was an argument. Morgana left. The others, well, they figured there wasn't anything we could do about it. We might as well go after some other shitty people in power and see what came up.”

“Why...” Yu shook his head. “Why did you never reach out to us? We could have fought together. With our forces combined, we could have won.”

“You could not, Truthseeker. I am the manifested will of humanity itself.” Yaldabaoth interjected.

“And we wouldn't try. At first, because we didn't trust you. A detective and two police officers were bad enough. I'd seen quite enough of the police force to know that most are simply petty thugs with guns.” He scowled. “Sorry, Makoto.”

Makoto sighed and nodded.

“But when we found out about Kirijo, we pretty much figured you were as bad as Shido. A huge company with a history in investigating Psience, a large body count in its past, and way too much influence in the government?” Mitsuru's lips tightened.

“You know that's unfair.” Yu countered.

Akira nodded. “We found out soon enough, but by that time...” He took the pot of coffee and started to pour it in one of the cup. “By that time we'd started to realize something, changing Heart after Heart, getting really well acquainted with all kinds of important people, in Mementos or their Palaces. I'd kind of hoped you'd see it too, really.”

“See what?”

Akira finished pouring the two cups before he answered, taking careful care to fill them just right, then letting them stand and cool. He once again met Yu's eyes, no anger or shame in his eyes. “That Lord Yaldabaoth was right all along. That humanity is corrupt, and petty and selfish. Too many evil assholes, way too many people who are just decent but won't take a stand. Not enough good people. Look at the world before we began. This is the best we can do? As we changed things, we started to realize, that if we were to ever turn out back on the Holy Grail, even if we succeeded, it'd all go back to what it was.”

He stepped forward, and his eyes were filled with conviction. “I did not just put up a show up there during that trial, Narukami-san. I earnestly believe this. Coming under Lord Yaldabaoth’s control is both humanity's salvation, redemption and its well deserved fate. Society needed reform. And we are delivering it.” He was answered by the sound of cheering from the walls of prisoners around them.

“You... You're being controlled by him.” Yu said, weakly. The spite, the fear, those he could face, but the zealous fire in the black haired boy's eyes was disturbing.

Yaldabaoth spoke. “I would not. Nor will I, even if it is within my power. The greatest show of my triumph over Igor and his master is that their chosen now serves me, out of his own free will.”

“You're a teacher, Narukami-san. You probably figured out the theme. Lord Yaldabaoth is the Holy Grail and we are the Knights of the Round. He is the God of the new world and we will bring it under _his_ control. If there was someone with a weapon to defeat him, I would do everything within my power to stop them! We would!”

“It is time!” Yaldabaoth boomed. “Pacify the last of the rebels, my Trickster.”

“Akira... Please, stop this. You're.... We can do better than this. I'm sorry you were failed. But we've been working on improving ourselves for humanity's entire existence. This is no way for it to end.” Yu said. “Free us. We can find a way to reverse it. We can...”

Akira's face lifted into that Joker smirk. “I'd tell you to stop trying, Narukami-san, but if you were the type to give up, we wouldn't be here would we? Understand that I do really respect you. And you as well, Kijiro-san, even though I know that is one sided. Now, I think the coffee is ready.” The smirk faded. “It does not take long. From what I've seen it briefly hurts, and then you're... pretty much okay. You'll be going home right after.”

The two cups of coffee stood on the table. They actually smelled good, but they might as well have been a pair of gallows. Yu's heart started racing again. “Akira. Don't do this.”

“There is no nice way for us to do this. If you want to, we'll untie you so you can do the deed yourself. Or you can go down fighting.” Akira ignored him.

“Untie me.” Mitsuru said and Yu was impressed with the ice in her voice. “I'll not let you manhandle any more than you've already done. And I'll let you see how dignity looks like, you lickspittles.”

Makoto's face turned red, and her fists clenched, but she loosened the restraints. Mitsuru rubbed her wrists, then stepped forward. She caught Yu's gaze. “Yu, this is not the end. We will regain our freedom. Remember that.”

He nodded. So often, his friends looked to him for inspiration and courage. But sometimes, he needed that himself. “We will.”

Mitsuru then stared down Akira, who remained silent, lips a thin line. “And you. I will fulfil my promise to you. You will pay for your betrayal.” And with that she took the cup of coffee, raising it slightly as in a toast. “To the downfall of you, your court, and your false god, 'King'” And with those words, she brought the cup to her lips.

He saw her tilt it, he saw her lower it.

He saw that brief moment of hesitation and then saw her throat move as she swallowed.

Akira's tense posture relaxed slightly.

That is when she raised her hand as fast as lightning and the remaining contents of the cup made its way towards Akira's face, whose mouth opened in surprise.

Only for a golden glow to appear right in front of Akira's face, shielding him from the splash.

“Nothing occurs in my presence without my approval! Your pride in failing to see this is but one of the sins for which you will be rehabilitated.”

“You're not the first one to try.” Akira said, as Mitsuru started to sway on her feet, trying to glare at him. “But the first one to actually go so far as to drink the cup to make me drop my guard. Impressive as always, Kirijo-san.”

She fell to her knees, clutching her heart, even as her Persona Artemisia appeared, though struggling, as if pulled out, rather than summoned. It let out a silent scream, then shifted into a Shadow version of Mitsuru, golden eyes briefly wide in pain, then turning to the same placid look all the other Shadows had had.

“No...” Yu vaguely heard his own voice. His stomach churned and twisted. Shadow Mitsuru never turned to look at him, simply walked towards one of the walls of the room, off to her own cell.

Mitsuru panted as she got up, unsteadily rubbing her head.

“Mitsuru... please... you....”

“Ugh... Well then...” She gathered her composure. “I suppose at least that's over with. I suppose you're happy with your little victory then? I can go?”

“Almost, Kirijo-san. After Narukami is done, we'll take you back to the real world as soon as possible.” Akira said, his voice slightly hollow.

“Mitsuru, fight it. Please, whatever is in there, try to remember when you get home, try to hold on to who you are.” He looked in her eyes, trying to find a spark of defiance.

She shrugged. “We lost, they won, Yu. And quite frankly, if the kids want to take over the saving the world business, I've done enough in my life to more than make up for whatever my family did. It's time we get back to looking after our own lives, don't we? You know better than to think this would work on all the others and not on me, right? This is just the way it is. It can't be helped.”

Yu turned to look at Akira, and in that moment, he wanted nothing more then to wrap his hands around his throat. The fact that he was standing there looking pained, while he had done this, to Mitsuru, to Yosuke, to all his friends. “You think this is good? THIS? You think this is defensible, Akira Kurusu? You think this is how you make a better world?” He wasn't trying to get to him any more, just voicing his rage.

Akira looked down, then to the side, where he grabbed the other cup of coffee.

“Yes.”

Yu tried to leap forward, but all of a sudden, he found his body freezing. He stood paralysed, and his mouth opened. Again, Yaldabaoth's voice boomed. “I tire of this, my trickster. Finish it.”

Akira stepped forward, then halted. “If I could ask a favour my lord. Allow us to do this. I'll be careful.”

The paralysis left Yu, although it was quickly replaced by Makoto's arms grabbing him, holding him in place, forcing him on his knees and keeping his head in a fixed position. With his arms still bound, Yu could only desperately struggle against it.

“I need to take full responsibility for my actions, after all.” Akira said.

Yu clenched his mouth shut, but Makoto grabbed his nose and pulled his head back, forcing him to look upward.

Akira reached down to peel his lips back.

Yu bit down and got a hiss of pain as his teeth clenched down on the red leather.

But the fingers didn't get removed and Akira carefully poured the warm, bitter liquid into his mouth.

Yu clenched his throat, tried to spit out as much as he could, tried to bite down harder and harder on those fingers, but some of the liquid seeped past anyway.

He felt faint, his focus faltering for a brief moment, allowing more of the coffee to go down his throat. Then an ache started deep within him and all of a sudden, the hands grabbing him were gone. He started trying to make himself vomit, but soon, all he could do was writhe on the ground as pain exploded in his chest and the world quickly turned dark around him.

He briefly saw Izanagi's coat flapping in front of him.

Then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there is the truth revealed. There is one more chapter, but this is Akira's reasoning for his actions. Now, I know usually the rule is 'if you don't like a plot twist or interpretation, don't complain about it' but I very much would like to invite people to share their own interpretations on how they see Akira, and the other Phantom Thieves, and why in their vision this would not work, because I enjoy talking about Persona 5 a lot.


	6. Hope Spot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermaths, and unfinished business.

When they returned to the upper levels, only the other Phantom Knights were still there. Mitsuru and Yu barely glanced at them as Akira directed them towards the exit. They'd given them some money to make it to their respective homes. From there, they should be fine. There was no fanfare, no final goodbyes. The two figures left the metaverse and took their place in the neatly ordered masses of humanity making their way to their trains, their homes, their jobs.

The silence in Mementos was heavy as the Knights looked at their leader. Skull was the one to break it. “How'd it go?” His voice was flat.

“It sucked, as it always did,” King answered. Queen just nodded.

Panther had been sitting up against the wall. “Do you think there was a way to convince them we were right? Some way we didn't have to do that?”

King shook his head, “No. This was the only way.” Panther nodded and sighed. The leader of the Knights recognized the melancholy and spoke. “I know this doesn't feel like our best moment, but it is. We fought enemies that could hit us on our own ground, that had experience and numbers behind him. But with the help of the Holy Grail, our friends and each and every one of us, we won. And we won clean. We did not kill. We did not even get close to killing. We are, absolutely, one hundred percent the good guys still.”

“And now, it's over. No more of this. The last enemies that could face us, that could ignore the call of the Grail have fallen. Only Morgana is still out there. And I like to think he doesn't want to face us as much as we don't want to face him. And that means we can focus on what is important. Finding shitty assholes and taking their hearts!”

The Knights rose from their slouches and leans as he spoke, and determination found its way back to their gloomy faces. King continued, “We'll take the rest of today off. Tomorrow, we're going to start to do some serious clean up in Russia. And once that's done, I've got new marching orders from Below. Because after dealing with Russian cold weather for so long, he's tasked us with bringing peace to the Middle-East.”

“Effin' great! No more cold weather!” Skull cheered.

Fox smiled. “If opportunity presents itself, I should like to visit the real pyramids.”

“Ugh, WiFi is gonna be such a pain,” Oracle grumbled.

Queen looked sternly. “Do I need to remind you that this is not going to be a school trip? Until the Grail has taken most of the people's hearts there, we should stick to the Metaverse. Just because the Rebels are gone doesn't mean we can be careless. Speaking of which, what exactly happened with that escape?”

“Oh, c'mon Queen. That doesn't matter anymore, right?” Skull tried.

As the Phantom Knights commenced their free day with some traditional bickering, a few levels below, on the floor of the subway platform laid a single Evoker and a pair of special glasses. Forgotten and useless.

…

Prisons were usually one of the first places to come under the Grail's sway. Perhaps they resonated with the Prison of Regression. Perhaps it was the strictly regimented and authoritarian nature of the places. Guards were the first to go. Their cruelties blunted to callous smirks, their kindnesses faded to well-meaning smiles. Soon there'd be influxes of new prisoners. They'd turn themselves in, give complete confessions and plead guilty. Once in the prison, they would obey the rules and authorities fully. Normal prisoners would find that when faced with incorruptible guards and fellow inmates, breaking the rules became a troublesome proposition, and playing along was easier. And many who did play along found it so easy and pleasant that their own Shadows soon transferred to another prison entirely, and forgot all about any ideas to escape or do anything else but calmly wait out the days of their sentence.

However, one prisoner in one particular Japanese prison didn't quite fit this. He was a model prisoner, abided by all the rules. But whatever influence was washing over the other prisoners seemed to change nothing about his sarcastic, cynical ways. But there was always something special about him. Not the least of which was the actual crime he was here for.

So when the order came to hand him over for a special investigation, that was considered not abnormal. Perhaps his testimony was needed. Or he was expected to redeem himself by assisting in something. Or perhaps he was just considered too dangerous for a normal prison. To be honest, the warden nor the guards cared enough to even make idle speculation about it. Or about how young the sole guard who collected him looked. The paper work looked good enough and the guard seemed to be well aware of police regulations and protocol, so the transfer was just another line in the streams of reports which people handed responsibility upward.

In this, the Phantom Knights' and Yaldabaoth's success worked against them. A warden more caring might have investigated further, might have drawn attention to what happened, and the name and crimes of that prisoner likely would have called the Knights’ attention. And if they then had watched the security footage of the guard with the pleasant demeanour, or read the reports of a skinny and emaciated looking cat skulking around, they would have dropped all other matters to start a manhunt.

As it was, the police car was abandoned and the prisoner found himself freed, brought into the Metaverse and informed what was going on.

“Alright, so most importantly: don't use your name. If a Shadow hears our name and reports it, we're gonna have to deal with a bunch of trouble. New guy, you're Lancelot. This is Mordred, and I'm Merlin, because I know what's going on, so you best listen to me.”

The newly dubbed Lancelot sighed dramatically as he adjusted his tie and checked his gun. “You know, I figured that my atonement would be all about sitting in a prison cell and being bored. But this is the second time I'm called out to be working alongside some twisted brat with emotional issues in all kinds of spooky supernatural stuff.”

Mordred scowled, his voice harsh. “I don't think convict trash like you is any position to be picky about the company he keeps. Would you have preferred I'd have let you rot in that cell?”

“I'm not sure you got much room to talk about convicts there, kiddo. Only reason you're not a jailbird is because everyone figured you were dead and pretty much forgot about you.”

Mordred snarled at the provocation. “He didn't forget about me! He didn't! I'll prove myself. I'll win. I'll be the better man. I'll get victory where he surrendered! And you'd better make yourself useful. We've wasted enough time on freeing you.”

“Not that I'm complaining, but I'm kinda surprised you went with little old me. Couldn't you have gone and helped all the world saving heroes? I mean, the kid pretty much has 'being a do gooder' front and central on his résumé.”

Merlin scowled. “I didn't know they existed when I went to look for Mordred. And by the time I found him, they were already a lost cause. Helping them just would have exposed myself. And last time I picked a do-gooder, it didn't really work out.” He looked from one to the other. “But let me give you this advice. The three of us have no one else but each other. It's gonna be hard enough, and none of us can do it alone. So for this operation, you'd better make sure you quit pissing each other off for no reason. I learned that lesson hard, so you two listen, or we're all gonna be caught quick.”

“Man, I can't believe I'm taking corny advice from another mascot-looking freak. But at least I'm spared the bear puns.” Lancelot shrugged. “But I suppose he's not wrong. Considering we're both killers, I don't think provoking each other is a smart move to play in this game.”

“Belonging. I suppose you're right, Mo... Merlin. This is perhaps the kind of group I belong in anyway. I lost fighting alone. So... masks on then.” He looked down, then gave Lancelot a pleasant smile. “I look forward to working with you then. I'm intrigued to hear the details of your experience with the Metaverse and influencing Shadows. I hope I'm not too much of a disappointment after meeting the original Detective Prince.”

Lancelot's smirk briefly broadened, then turned into an innocent grin. “Hah, oh, I just had a few weeks stay, but I might have learned a trick or two. And honestly, most of my experience with Shirogane-san was listening to my boss complain about her. And you kow, get my ass kicked by her.”

The masks were thin, and both of them knew they were simply masks, but it was something to start with. “Good! You can follow good advice! Now, let's face this orderly controlled world. Who's ready to cause some chaos?”

Lancelot grinned hungrily and the mask fell. “Sounds like it might be fun.”

Mordred's manic grin broke his mask just as fully. “We will prevail!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it. Leaving it a nice and open ending. Maybe I'll write something in this continuity, maybe I won't. If someone feels inspired to go somewhere with this and write what happens next, consider this my glee-filled blessing. Thanks to my proofreader for going over it.


End file.
